The Fire That Tore My Life
by vonniebeth
Summary: Natalie comes home and finds her house on fire. What happens after the fire destroys what she's known? Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**yesterday wasn't a good day for me. My mom was cleaning the oven, my sister and I were supposed to turn the oven off after a while, we forgot, smoke was everywhere. It was horrible, yet inspiring. The house is okay (it still smells like smoke), but it inspired me to write this. I intended for this to be just this, but I might continue someday, as soon as I finish everything else. Let me know what you'd prefer**

Fires. Natalie was used to them. Her house has been on fire lots of times. There were a lot of flames, tons of smoke and, of course, fear. She may be used to them, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid.

It was about 3 am. Natalie was walking home from Henry's house, when she saw smoke in the sky. "Smoke signal?" she wondered. She ran home and found it wasn't a smoke signal, but her house. "Shit, no! Not again!" Natalie was stupidly about to run inside, but common sense knocked into her almost immediately. Instead, she took out her cell phone and called the fire department, hoping her parents would be out soon.

After a few moments, they were still in the house. Fortunately, the fire department arrived and put out the fire. Some of the firefighters walked inside to look for Dan and Diana. Natalie was really beginning to worry. "Where could they be?" she muttered, forcing herself to not cry.

"Natalie," a voice said. Natalie looked at the firefighter who called her name.

"Yeah?"

"I'm very sorry to tell you this, but it seems as if your parents have perished."

"Wh-what? No!"

"Everything inside is destroyed. I am sorry, Natalie."

"Are you sure they're dead?"

"I've never been surer in my life."

"YOU MONSTER!" Natalie ran off, not sure of where she was gonna go or what she was gonna do.


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to add a few more chapters to this. Thanks to my friends who gave me ideas for this. You're all awesome! And to the people who read and review this… you're awesome too**

Life for Natalie as she knew it was over. After the fire, she was sent to live with her Aunt Marsha and Uncle Harry in a city far from Natalie's hometown. They had 2 little kids: Zabel (short for Isabella-Marie), who was 3, and Trig, who was just 2 months old. Their house was small, extremely untidy and smelled like spoiled milk. The worst part about it was that Natalie had to sleep on the living room couch. "Please tell me this is a joke," Natalie said.

"Why would I be joking about your living arrangements?" Marsha asked, looking serious.

"Sleeping on the living room couch? This untidiness? THIS IS HELL!"

"Hey, rule number 5 in this house: no swearing in front of the little kids."

"You have rules in this place?"

"Yes. In fact, we have 525,600 of them."

"You should've just given me a pamphlet that said 'Welcome to Hell on Earth' and in smaller letters 'The Perfect Place to Torture an Orphaned Niece/Nephew'. I thought you were cooler than this, Aunt Marsha."

"Well, until Zabel and Trig came along, there was no need to have rules."

"That's being overprotective."

"It's being cautious."

"Overprotective."

"Cautious."

"Overprotective."

"Cautious."

"OVERPROTECTIVE!"

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he walked in. "Oh, hey Nat. Glad to see you've arrived safely. How was your trip? Good, I hope. What's wrong?"

"Uncle Harry, what the f-u-c-k is up with all these rules?"

"Rule number 1,023, no spelling swear words."

"You've got to be f-ing kidding me."

"Rule number 900, no abbreviating swear words." Natalie groaned. "Why do you swear anyway, Nat? It is not a good habit, exactly why me and Marsha don't do it anymore, mostly cuz we don't want to influence the kids."

"I swear cuz my life is screwed. I absolutely hate it here. I wanna go home!"

"Natalie, sweetie…" Marsha began.

"No! Don't call me sweetie! Don't talk to me!"

"Well, believe it or not, you are home."

"This isn't home. Home is where my mom, dad and boyfriend are. You're NOT my mom, Uncle Harry is NOT my dad, and my boyfriend is 1,000 fucking miles away!" Natalie forced her tears to stay back. "THIS IS NOT HOME!" Natalie ran to the backyard, sat in Zabel's sandbox and cried.

After a few minutes, Natalie heard a little girl's voice say, "What's wrong, Nat-lee?"

Natalie looked up and saw Zabel. "Nothing. Go away."

"Do you miss your mommy and daddy?"

"I guess I do a little, but I especially miss my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I do. His name is Henry. He always made me feel better about certain situations. Man, I wish he was here."

"You like it here, Nat-lee?"

"No. I hate it here!"

"Do you hate me?"

"No. I just hate being here, far away from what my life used to be."

"You'll have fun here. Me promise."

Natalie couldn't help laughing at the little girl's grammar mistake. "Okay."

"Have you ever played with dollies?"

"Well, when I was little, I used to play with them all the time. Now I never do cuz it's just not something that teenagers do."

"Wanna play now?"

Natalie looked at Zabel, who made a puppy-dog face. "For a little bit."

"Goody!" Zabel took Natalie's hand and took her to her bedroom, where there were dolls scattered everywhere. "Tah-dah!"

"Holey shit," Natalie whispered so Zabel wouldn't hear. "I've never seen so many dolls."

"Today, the dollies are going to go the movies," Zabel announced. She picked up some dolls and clothes and gave them to Natalie. "Make sure they dress nice. They're going to see a fancy movie."

Natalie had never seen anyone have so many rules for playing with dolls, let alone a 3 year old. She shook her head and dressed all of them. "All dressed."

"No, that's not right. Amelia can't wear blue! It makes her look fat! Nat-lee, you said you knew how to play dolls. You're doing it wrong."

"Fuck that!"

Zabel's mouth gaped open. At first, Natalie though she was going to cry, but instead she yelled, "MOMMY! NAT-LEE BROKE RULE NUMBER 5!"

"Oh my god, Zabel. I can say whatever words I want to say. Screw the rule."

"You gonna be in big trouble."

Marsha ran in and looked at Zabel. "What word did she say?"

"The one that rhymes with duck."

Marsha glared at Natalie. "What part of rule number 5 do you not understand?"

"What part of 'I hate it here' do YOU not understand?" Natalie retorted.

"You know, we took you in cuz we felt bad that you lost both of your parents against volition. We understand that you're upset, but you have to abide to our rules. That is just the way it is around here. You're not even trying to give our place a chance. Maybe you'll meet someone nice at school. Maybe you'll find a new boyfriend."

"A new boyfriend? Oh, no way, Jose. Life doesn't work like that. Henry and I never broke up, which means that he is still there for me. Just cuz he's far away doesn't mean anything… does it?"

"Well, stay for a week and we'll see how things go. If you find a change of heart, you'll stay. If you're still miserable, we'll make arrangements for you to go elsewhere."

"Okay." Natalie smiled to herself and thought, "I'll forcibly hate it here. Then I can go back to where my life was. And back to Henry."


	3. Chapter 3

**I got bored today, and I heard the song Fifteen playing, which, believe it or not, inspired this chapter, so I can't say that I own Abigail (Abby), I just like I don't own anything else that is used unless it is obviously an original character that I made up. If I really owned something, I would tell everyone cuz I am NOT one to keep my mouth shut about things like ownership and all that stuff (ask my friends. They know). PS: The part with the linoleum knife actually happened to me. It was terrible**

The next day, Natalie was forced to go to school. "This week can't go by fast enough," Natalie thought. She walked into the school and saw a bunch of people staring at her as if she was an alien that just grew another head. She walked into her homeroom and sat down next to a group of people, who left immediately. Natalie shook her head. "First, I deal with this crap in my hometown, now here."

"Is this seat taken?" a shy girl said, twirling her red hair around her finger.

"Of course it isn't! Nobody wants to sit with the new girl!"

"I do. Can I sit here?"

Natalie sighed. "Sure. You new here too?"

"No. I just don't have any friends here. Everybody calls me 'clown' cuz of my red hair and pale skin. People are so mean here."

"Correction: people are mean EVERYWHERE. Take it from me. The people who live in my hometown are mean and people who live here are mean."

"Life sucks, doesn't it? What brings you to this town?"

"My karma. I lost both my parents in a fire."

"You _did_? Oh gosh, I'm sorry. Hey, what's your name?"

"Natalie Goodman. Yours?"

"Abigail Frost, but you can call me Abby. No one does. You know what they call me."

"Yeah."

The bell rang and homeroom ended. "Hey, want to sit with me at lunch?"

"Uh, sure. That sounds great, Abby. Thanks."

"You're welcome. See you then."

Abby walked off to her first class and Natalie looked at her schedule, unsure of where Room 227A was. "Are you lost?" a guy said as he approached Natalie.

"Um, yeah," Natalie said. "Where's Room 227A?"

"In the back building."

"Where's the back building?"

The guy rolled his eyes and said stupidly, "In the back of the school."

"Okay, god. Thanks."

Natalie walked off and the guy laughed. "Sucker."

"Dude, what did you say to her?" his friend said.

"I told her that her class was in the back building."

"We don't have a back building."

"Duh."

Natalie walked outside, looking for the back building. After a moment, she realized that she had not only been scammed by an immature fool, but also locked out of the school. "Oh damn," Natalie muttered. "Oh well! Might as well take the rest of the day off." Natalie started to walk to the house, but she got a better idea: she should go home.

"Where are you going?" a voice yelled.

Natalie stared startled, seeing who she assumed was the principal yelling at her. "I don't know."

"Why are you even out here?"

"I'm lost. I'm new here and I have no idea where the hell this classroom is and I got scammed into thinking it was the back building."

"The back building? Well, I guess you've met Tim Eiffel. I'm sorry. Now, according to your schedule, you should be in Latin I."

"I didn't sign up for Latin!"

"Well, according to previous records, you were excelling in Spanish, so we figured you should try something new."

"I don't even know how to get there."

"2nd floor, 5th door on your left."

"Thanks."

The rest of the morning did not go smoothly. Natalie did not understand Latin at all, she had to take an Algebra II test even though it was her first day, she got hit in the face with a volleyball 4 times and she stabbed her thumb accidentally with a linoleum knife in art class and nearly went into shock. By the time lunch came, Natalie didn't know whether to be glad or worried. "Natalie!" Abby called. "Over here!"

Natalie approached Abby slowly. "You seriously want to sit with me?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't want to."

"No. Of course I want to. You're my only friend here."

"Really? We're friends now? Cool. I've always wanted a friend. Did you have a lot of friends in your hometown?"

"On the contrary. All I had was my boyfriend."

"You had a boyfriend?"

"Have a boyfriend. He hasn't broken up with me. In fact, he was sad to see me leave for here. I wish I could go back."

"Don't go back. Stay here with me. You wouldn't abandon your new friend, would you?"

Natalie froze. She didn't know what to say. How could she choose between her new friend and her boyfriend?

The rest of the day flew by and Natalie walked through the front door of the house. "How was school?" Marsha asked.

"Who are you? My mom?" Natalie responded harshly. She walked to the living room couch, realized what she said, and cried, remembering she didn't have her mom anymore. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Hey, we're planning on going to your hometown this weekend so you can visit people."

"Wow, Aunt Marsha. That's so cool of you. Thanks."

"No problem." Natalie smiled and thought to herself. "Maybe I don't have to fake sadness…"


	4. Chapter 4

**okay, it's finally the weekend again. Just one more week left of workstudy. I rambled a little bit in this chapter and it is a bit sad. I'm going to admit it: I love torturing Natalie in this story. It's fun. If anyone has any ideas for the next chapter, let me know please (: **

The weekend finally came. Natalie had been packed for days. She was so excited to see Henry, since it had been awhile. As soon as school let out that Friday, Natalie quickly bid 'adios' to Abby and ran to the house, ready to go.

After a few hours, they arrived in Natalie's hometown. "You go on and hang out with your friends," Harry said as soon as they got to their place for the weekend. "We'll stay here and get settled."

"Okay," Natalie said, more than ecstatic to get away from her aunt, uncle and cousins. She walked casually to Henry's house to hide her ecstaticism and knocked. Natalie was hoping that Henry would answer the door, but instead his brother did. "Hi."

"Natalie?" Peter whispered. "Why are you here? I thought you died in the fire with your parents? Am I hallucinating you cuz I didn't go to the funeral?"

Natalie giggled softly. "No. I came here for a surprise visit. Is Henry home?"

"Uh, yeah. Hold on. I'll go get him."

Moments later, Henry appeared at the door. "Nat…" he began.

"Hi, Henry!" Natalie practically shouted.

"Not so loud. I'm, uh, surprised to see you here."

"Of course you are. I'm here as a surprise."

"There's more surprises to that…"

"Surprises, surprises!"

"Natalie, I'm sorry, but I can't talk now."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No. It's just that…"

"HENRY!" a voice called out. "What is going on?" A girl who looked about 18 appeared behind Henry and noticed Natalie. "Oh, hi. You must be Natalie. Henry has told me so much about you. I'm real sorry about your parents. Must've been terrible. I'm Audrey Bates."

"Henry, who is she?" Natalie asked cautiously.

"Natalie, it's not what you think," Henry stated.

"You're trying to get another girlfriend, aren't you? Just cuz I moved, it didn't mean that we broke up. I seriously thought you still loved me and cared about me and still wanted to be with me someday. But do you want to something? You know what? You can be with Audrey for all I care. Our relationship is OVER! Good day, Henry David Glaceau."

"Natalie…"

"I SAID GOOD DAY!"

Natalie ran away from Henry's house and to where her house used to be. She walked around and found a couple of remnants from the house that weren't destroyed, such as that one baby picture of Gabe that her mother had tried to keep safe forever, a diary that Natalie kept when she was 7 ("Ugh!" she thought) and, most surprisingly, she found a letter that Diana had written to Natalie the night before she died. "Dear Natalie," the letter said. "I know you probably won't be home til morning, but I wanted you to know that me and your father love you so much, but my life is going, going, still here, but farther than it was. Please don't worry if a day comes where I'm gone. I want you to be happy and not worry about what others say or about me and your dad. We love you. Take care of yourself. Love you always, Mom."

Natalie began to cry after she finished reading the letter. Her mother wanted her to be happy, but what was so great about living with 2 little cousins, a friend who she still didn't know very well yet, a boyfriend who allegedly had another woman in his life and being unfamiliar with her new life. She shouted, "YOU PLANNED THIS OUT! YOU PLANNED TO SET FIRE TO THE HOUSE, DIDN'T YOU? YOU WANTED ME TO BE HAPPY, AND YOU THOUGHT LOSING YOU AND DAD WOULD MAKE MY LIFE BETTER? NO! I HATE YOU, MOM! I HATE YOU!"

"Natalie?" she heard Marsha say. "Why are you here? You know that being here could bring bad memories. Why aren't you with your friends?"

"What friends did I have here? All I had was Henry and he thought that my loss of parents could be his gain to a new girlfriend. I wanna go back. I never wanna come home again."

"Huh?"

"Your house is back, where I am now is home."

"I see. Come on then."

"Okay." Natalie followed Marsha, wishing that life wasn't so terrible.


	5. Chapter 5

**haha, I'm ending this story too. I have so much to do that I can't even think straight anymore (I have a large to-do list on my profile if you want to see it). This story was fun to write for awhile, but stupid workstudy fried my brain. Love goes to all the people who read and reviewed this. Thank you**

The weekend flew by, much to Natalie's luck. As she was heading for the car, she saw Henry running towards her. After the way he broke up with her without her knowledge, she didn't want to talk to him. "Natalie, please," Henry said. "It's just for a minute. Please."

"What the fuck do you want from me?" Natalie practically yelled.

"Just a minute of your time, then I'll be gone. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you're mad at me, but you don't understand."

"Oh, what don't I understand? I understand perfectly that Audrey is your girlfriend. Just leave me alone!"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Then what is she? Your fiancé? Then I hope the 2 of you have many MISERABLE years!"

"Natalie, she's my cousin. She needed a place to stay for the week because she was supposed to be with her boyfriend, but he dumped her last minute."

"Wh-what? Wait a second. So you're telling me that Audrey is your cousin?"

"Yes."

"And that I'm an idiot for being mad for no reason?"

"Ye- NO! Nat, you are not an idiot. It was just a misunderstanding. You know that I would never break up with you without your consent and I would definitely never cheat on you. You're my girlfriend. I love you."

"I love you too, Henry. I love you too. It looks like I have to go now."

"Do you have to? You can stay here with me if you want to. I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave either. I'd love to stay here with you. I just have to ask my aunt if it's okay."

Marsha overheard what they were saying. "You can stay," she said. "Your mom wanted you to be happy, and as her sister-in-law, I should agree. If you're happy with this guy, then I'm happy for you. Keep in touch with us. Promise?"

"I promise. Thanks, Aunt Marsha. Bye."

"See ya."

So they left and Natalie smiled, until she remembered: Abby Frost. Would she think that she abandoned her? "Probably not," Natalie decided. She smiled and looked at Henry. She would be with him forever now.

A couple of weeks passed and Natalie found an unread email from Abby. It read: Natalie, why did you leave me? I thought we were BFFs. You are the worstest friend ever. Respond if you get this. You may be a bad friend, but I miss you. Signed, Abby.

"Oh shit," Natalie whispered.

"What is it?" Henry asked.

"This one girl who I became friends with thinks I'm a bad friend."

"You're not. Don't let her get to you."

"Right." Natalie then replied to Abby's email with: Hmm, Abigail. You sound kinda bi-polar like that. I know bi-polar. My mom was bi-polar. I'm happier here than I was there cuz my boyfriend is here. If you still wanna be friends, that's fine. Goodbye. From, Natalie.

So I guess life for Natalie was somehow good. She got to be with Henry and Abby, of course, still wanted to be friends.

The end.


End file.
